"Are you here to laugh at me?" said Daisy, rolling her eyes. The bright smile on Edward's face, which she used to love so much, didn't seem to be very attractive to her today.
"No, mother asked me to come here and make sure that you have every drop of this soup. Hahaha." As Edward said this, he put his hand around Daisy's waist and pulled her closer to him. He was a little surprised to know that his fearless wife could be scared of having herbal soup. And he couldn't help but wonder what her soldiers would think of her if they found out about this weak spot of hers.
"I don't need your supervision. It's just a bowl of soup. Not a big deal for me." Finishing her words, Daisy took the bowl, closed her eyes and drank off the soup in one big gulp. Though it was done quickly, the taste of the soup lingered in her throat and made her want to vomit it all out. Just as she was about to push Edward away and find a bucket, she felt Edward's lips pressing against hers. Slowly, he grazed his teeth over her lips which soon drove away her nausea.
"Tastes not bad at all," commented Edward, as he withdrew from the kiss and licked his own lips. Daisy was standing there speechless. Edward just took advantage of her yet made it sound like he was doing her a favor. She wanted to scold him, but seeing his gorgeous face, especially with that playful, yet dazzling smile on it, she just couldn't help but fall for him yet again.
"Edward, I just found another trait of yours," Daisy said seriously, with a flicker of mystery and mockery in her eyes.
"Really? You are finally seeing something nice in me? What is it?" Hearing Daisy give him a compliment greatly boosted Edward's confidence. He was already feeling heady and euphoric.
"You are thick-skinned. Seriously, you are the most thick-skinned person I know," said Daisy, raising her eyebrows. Then she skilfully slipped out of his arms, as she had done lots of times in the past, and walked briskly past him and headed back to the living room.
It was Edward's turn to be in shock now. Rubbing his chin, he mused, 'She just set a trap for me without me even seeing through it. Nice move! But wait until tonight to see who is the boss here, and learn some lessons on how to pay a compliment to your husband.'
A family reunion always involved a lot of happy hours, especially at the dinner table where everybody enjoyed good food and long conversations.
"Lukie, have some more food. You seem to have lost a lot of weight lately." Luke was caught completely off guard. He almost choked on his food when he heard what Cynthia said. Immediately after Cynthia told Daisy that she was losing weight, she started making her herbal soup. Now, he was afraid that Cynthia might force him to drink that soup too.
"No, Mother, I haven't lost any weight. Moreover, I've put on a few pounds lately. So you don't have to cook me any soup," Luke said, defending himself. He even had a few dry coughs in an attempt to hide his nervousness from Cynthia. The last thing he wanted was to be forced by Cynthia to have herbal soup like Daisy.
"Haha. Uncle Luke, are you afraid of drinking that herbal soup too? Granny was right, you do look thinner these days. And you look pale too. Look, there are so many wounds on your body. I really think that you need some supplement food to get healthier." As the only child of the family, Justin always had the attention of the whole family. His words successfully drew everyone's attention to Luke. Scrutinized by all the concerned people around the table, Luke felt embarrassed and turned pink. This was in great contrast to his usual calm and composed self that could be seen just a few minutes ago.
"Yes, Justin is right. Lukie, I did notice your wounds, but I didn't get a chance to ask you about it. What happened to you? How did you get them?" asked Cynthia with a concerned look on her face. Though small wounds were not uncommon for men like Luke, it seemed disturbing that there were so many of them on him at the moment. Besides, those were only the ones that were visible to them. What about the part of the body that they couldn't see? Were there more wounds on his body? Were they more serious? They were anxious to know.
Don't worry. These are just minor injuries. You won't see them in another few days." If he had the power to heal himself, he would say that these wounds would be gone today itself, as long as it could help him get rid of that herbal soup.
Were you two in some sort of danger back in B Country?" Daisy had been meaning to ask about what had happened in B Country ever since Edward and Luke were back. She just couldn't find the right time to ask. Since Cynthia brought up the wound, it made things much easier for her.
Let me go and have a look at his wounds," said Justin, jumping out of his chair. He immediately ran to Luke to have a closer look at the wounds on his hands. "There are multiple cuts and I can see that some of them are from daggers. Judging from the variety of the cuts, I think Uncle Luke was attacked by a group of people with different arms. And since all the cuts look minor, I assume that either those people were amateurs or they did it intentionally, probably because they didn't really want to take Uncle Luke's life but rather had some other intention."
Piece by piece, Justin stated his observations, and also added his speculations. He was very good, because he analyzed all the details correctly. Luke was indeed encircled by a group of people and they had no intention of hurting him. They were only trying to stop him from going back to the hotel to meet with Edward.
"Oh my goodness. Is it true? What about Eddie? Did you get hurt too?" exclaimed Cynthia, turning to Edward. Daisy was also shocked. All this while, she had been busy being mad at Edward for not helping her out when Cynthia made her drink that herbal soup; it never occurred to her that Edward might also be injured and have wounds that couldn't be seen right now.
"Everybody calm down. I am sorry but it's only Luke who got hurt. Nothing bad happened to me. I promise! And mother, please don't call me Eddie, it gives me goose bumps. You can call Luke by his nickname, but not me, all right?" said Edward impatiently, ignoring all the concerned looks from other people at the table. He tried to divert everyone's attention back to Luke.
"What were you doing? You didn't just stand there and let other people hurt Lukie, did you? Can't you see how badly he is hurt. You really have the nerve to say that you didn't get hurt even a bit? Though Luke was only her adopted son, Cynthia treated him just like Edward. So, when she heard that Luke got injured while Edward was safe and sound, she wrongly assume that Edward hadn't been watching out for his brother, or at least he didn't do a goof job at it.
Are you serious mother? Do you really want to see me get hurt too, so that Luke won't be the only one? Edward found it a little hard to understand the way his mother saw things. But apart from judging that in his head, he didn't really make an effort to defend himself. He wasn't hurt, and it was a fact that couldn't be changed.
You sure you are okay? Daisy asked again in a low voice, checking Edward up and down anxiously. Though she heard him tell everyone that he was alright, she was still worried.